Author: Kate E. Fort

A Collection of Stories and Links about Billy Frank

Kate Fort1 Comment

Billy Frank’s Last Post at NWIFC: Keep Big Oil Out of Grays Harbor

PBS Newshour: Northwest “Salmon People” Face Future without Fish

Oral History Project, Where the Salmon Run

Bunky Echohawk’s Portrait of Billy Frank

NY Times: On the River Bank with Billy Frank Jr. Indians and Salmon: Making Nature Whole

Seattle Times: Billy Frank: Champion of Tribal Rights Dies at 83

Seattle Times: Timeline of Billy Frank’s Life

Bellingham Herald: Billy Frank Jr. — Activist, Icon, Environmental Giant

Time Magazine: Native American Fishing Activist Billy Frank

North Kipsap Herald: Billy Frank Jr. Devoted His Life to Defense of Fishing Rights, Salmon Habitat

The Olympian: Tribal Fishing Activist Led Fight Resulting in 1974 Boldt Decision

Statement of Cynthia Iyall, Nisqually Indian Tribe Chair

Statement of the President

Statement of the Secretary of the Interior

Statement of the Assistant Secretary of the Interior

Senator Cantwell’s Statement

Special thanks to Julia Good Fox, who tweeted the first four links at @goodfox

Michigan Tech Dissertation on Tribal-State Fishery Co-Management

Kate Fort

Here.

Preface
Goals and objectives
The research goals were to assess and describe characteristics of a multi-cultural fishery co-management arrangement of state and tribal organizations in Michigan in order to provide information and recommendations to enhance the institutional
relationship. Information was collected through interview data and quantitative analysis of agency work plans of the Bay Mills Indian Community, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and the State of Michigan.
Objectives Included:
1. Determine extent of agency understanding for each other’s management priorities and knowledge systems used for guiding fishery management decisions and how they may influence views on the value of science in fishery management, and
suggest strategies for navigating multi-cultural institution building (Chapter 2).
2. Present how different participant values and perspectives shape priorities of biological assessments and restoration activities, identify and assess common and exclusive priorities and develop recommendations for collaboration (Chapter 3).
3. Describes how agency participants value collaboration, what barriers exist for successful collaboration and how an ideal relationship could be formed and function (Chapter 4).

Seminole Tribe Complaint Dismissed by 11th Circuit in Revenue Case

Kate Fort3 Comments

Decision here.

Briefs here.

Lower court briefs and decision here.

For various reasons, this might be a good case for en banc review by the 11th Circuit. First, one of the three judges deciding this was from the D.C. district court, sitting by designation. Second, the decision is based on an issue not briefed (which leads to a broader research question we have about federal Indian law generally–how often this happens). Third, and perhaps most importantly, the Court’s analysis of Ex Parte Young an issue of broader, national, concern.

The Court’s issues with equitable relief, and characterizing the relief should the Tribe win as a continued “damages” against the state because of the state’s collection regime is strange.

A declaratory judgment exempting the Tribe from the tax is the functional equivalent of ordering recurring payments of money damages. The Tribe points to no other way around the alleged constitutional violation other than a recurring refund paid to the Tribe from the Department after it precollects the tax from the fuel suppliers.

***

Unlike the tax regimes in those appeals, the only relief available to the Tribe under Florida law is a refund of taxes it will already have paid, and state sovereign immunity bars that relief. See Ford Motor Co., 323 U.S. at 463–64, 65 S. Ct. at 350.

As Judge Jordan in the dissent writes:

The majority’s opinion, as I read it, apparently would allow a state to shield the enforcement of any tax, no matter how constitutionally untenable, from challenge in federal court simply by enacting a precollection procedure.

 

Assistant Secretary Washburn on the Passing of Billy Frank

Kate Fort2 Comments

Here.

Statement of Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn

on the Passing of Billy Frank Jr.

  

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today issued the following statement on the passing of Billy Frank Jr., a member of the Nisqually Indian Tribe and chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission in Washington State:

 “Billy Frank Jr. was an undaunted defender of and respected elder statesman for tribal treaty fishing rights.  For over 30 years he helped lead the fight to preserve and protect the salmon and its habitat in Western Washington, thereby ensuring it remains a vital part of Northwest tribal culture and the Pacific Northwest’s economy. 

 “His wisdom on the importance of conservation and the protection of natural resources has been recognized by all who love the great outdoors.  Thanks to his leadership and years of hard work, we can continue to appreciate the great gifts of nature that are still with us and the tribes of the Pacific Northwest can still rely on the salmon to sustain them for generations to come.

 “Thank you, Billy, for your tireless work for Indian Country and our nation.

 “On behalf of my office, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education, we extend our condolences to the Nisqually Indian Tribe, the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, and to Mr. Frank’s family, friends and colleagues.”

 -DOI-

President Obama’s Statement on the Passing of Billy Frank Jr.

Kate Fort5 Comments

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5, 2014

Statement by the President on the Passing of Billy Frank, Jr.

I was saddened to learn of the passing of Billy Frank, Jr. – Chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission and a member of the Nisqually Indian Tribe. Billy fought for treaty rights to fish the waters of the Pacific Northwest, a battle he finally won in 1974 after being arrested many times during tribal “fish-ins”. Today, thanks to his courage and determined effort, our resources are better protected, and more tribes are able to enjoy the rights preserved for them more than a century ago. Billy never stopped fighting to make sure future generations would be able to enjoy the outdoors as he did, and his passion on the issue of climate change should serve as an inspiration to us all. I extend my deepest sympathies to the Nisqually Indian Tribe, and to Billy’s family, and to his many friends who so greatly admired him.

####

A Few Stories from Canada Over the Past Year

Kate Fort

I tend to tweet most articles about Canada and First Nations issues we follow, but here’s a post for Concurring Opinions collecting some of them together as an introduction for readers who are may be unfamiliar with the stories.

ABA’s Ranking of Judicial Candidates More Likely to Disadvantage Women and Minorities

Kate Fort

NY Times article here.

Original study here.

Article abstract:

This article uses two newly collected data sets to investigate the reliance by political actors on the external vetting of judicial candidates, in particular vetting conducted by the nation’s largest legal organization, the American Bar Association (ABA). Using these data, I show that minority and female nominees are more likely than whites and males to receive lower ratings, even after controlling for education, experience, and partisanship via matching. These discrepancies are important for two reasons. First, as I show, receiving poor ABA ratings is correlated with confirmation failure. Second, I demonstrate that ABA ratings do not actually predict whether judges will be “better” in terms of reversal rates. Taken together, these findings complicate the ABA’s influential role in judicial nominations, both in terms of setting up possible barriers against minority and female candidates and also in terms of its actual utility in predicting judicial performance.

New Proposed Rule for Fee to Trust in Alaska

Kate Fort1 Comment

Proposed Rule here.

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would delete a provision in the Department of the Interior’s land-into-trust regulations that excludes from the scope of the regulations, with one exception, land acquisitions in trust in the State of Alaska.

Related case here.

Press release requesting comments here.

No Bay Mills Decision This Week

Kate Fort1 Comment

Three opinions came down today, none of which were the Bay Mills decision. We did get Justice Ginsberg’s opinion (EPA v. EME Homer City) from the December sitting, however. The other two opinions were from the February sitting and both authored by Justice Sotomayor.  The previous discussion about what this may or may not mean is here.

There are no more opinion release days scheduled for this week.

Article on Birth Mother in Adoptive Couple Case Dropping Federal Suit

Kate Fort

Here.

In a statement Tuesday, Cherokee Nation Assistant Attorney General Chrissi Ross Nimmo said officials did not actively follow the suit because they were never served with a complaint, meaning they were unaware the case was closed until last week.

“We are pleased Ms. Maldonado and the unnamed plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the suit,” she said. “We never believed the suit had any merit, and we’re prepared to actively defend the suit had we ever been served.”